[Cites 8, Cited by 0]
Gujarat High Court
Jiva Ganesha Bala vs The State Of Gujarat on 20 April, 2026
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/SCA/20129/2023 JUDGMENT DATED: 20/04/2026
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 20129 of 2023
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT M. PRACHCHHAK Sd/-
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Approved for Reporting Yes No
No
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JIVA GANESHA BALA
Versus
THE STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.
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Appearance:
MR. DIVYANG A RAMANI(7180) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
MR SHIVANG M SHAH(5916) for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2
NANAVATI & CO.(7105) for the Respondent(s) No. 3,4
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT M. PRACHCHHAK
Date : 20/04/2026
JUDGMENT
1. Rule returnable forthwith. Mr. Shivang M. Shah,
learned counsel waive service of rule on behalf of
respondent No.1 and 2 and Mr. Maulik Nanavati, learned
counsel waives service of rule for and on behalf of
respondent No.4.
2. With the consent of the parties, the matter is taken up
for final hearing today.
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C/SCA/20129/2023 JUDGMENT DATED: 20/04/2026
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3. Present petition is filed by the petitioner under Article
14, 21 and 226 of the Constitution of India r/w the
provision of Right to Information Act, 2005 seeking below
mentioned relief:-
"9(A) YOUR LORDSHIPS be pleased to admit and allow
this petition.
(B) HON'BLE COURT pleased to issue an appropriate
writ, order or direction to the concern respondent
authority to provide documents as per the RTI
application dt.12/11/2021 Annexure-B and implement
the order passed by the respondent no. 1 in complaint
No. 146 of 2022 and order dated 27/07/2022 Annexure-A
as prayed by the applicant in his application dated
12/12/2021 within stipulated time in accordance with
law in the interest of justice: Annex. B
(C) HON'BLE COURT be pleased to order or direction
the concern respondent authority to provide all
documents which are demanded by the applicant in his
RTI application dated 12/11/2021 in accordance with law
in the interest of justice; Annex. B
(D) HON'BLE COURT be pleased to order or direction to
the concern respondent No.1 initiated inquiry under
section 18(1) of RTI Act and to imposed the penalties
upon the respondent No.3 & No.4 under section 20 of
RTI Act.
(E) HON'BLE COURT be pleased to grant such other and
further relief(s) as deemed fit in the interest of justice."
4. The facts giving rise to present petition are on
12/11/2021, the petitioner filed an application under Rule
3(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 before
Respondent No. 3, i.e., the RTI Officer, Collector Office,
Bhuj, seeking certain documents as stated in the
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application.
4.1 The Respondent No. 2 failed to provide the requested
documents sought in the RTI application dated
12/11/2021. Therefore, the petitioner filed a complaint on
28/02/2022 before Respondent No. 1 under Section 18(1)
of the Right to Information Act, 2005. The petitioner also
filed written submissions in the said complaint on
19/07/2022. The matter was listed for hearing on
21/07/2022, and an order was passed by the Gujarat
Information Commission on 27/07/2022.
4.2 The Respondent No. 3, pursuant to the order passed
by Respondent No. 1, transferred the RTI application to
Respondent No. 4 for providing the information sought by
the petitioner in the application dated 12/11/2021.
Aalthough Respondent No. 1 passed an order on
27/07/2022 and Respondent No. 3 transferred the
application to Respondent No. 4, Respondent No. 4 has
still failed to provide the requested documents.
Respondent No. 1 merely passed a simpliciter order
directing transfer of the application and failed to exercise
the powers vested under Section 18(1) of the Right to
Information Act, 2005.
4.3 In view of the above facts the petitioner has preferred
present petition seeking above mentioned relief/s.
5. Heard learned counsel appearing for respective
parties.
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6. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that no
reply has been given by the respondent authority, i.e.,
Respondent No. 4, and the application dated 12/11/2021
has not been decided. Such inaction is ex facie illegal,
arbitrary, and violative of the applicant's fundamental
rights under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of
India. He has submitted that although the application was
filed on 12/11/2021, Respondent No. 4 has neither
decided the application nor provided the documents
sought therein. He has submitted that Respondent No. 1
has failed to exercise powers under Section 18(1) of the
Right to Information Act, 2005 and has not initiated any
inquiry against Respondent Nos. 3 and 4, despite the
circumstances warranting such action. He has submitted
that under Section 18 of the Act, the Information
Commission is empowered and duty-bound to receive and
inquire into complaints where no response is given within
the prescribed time or where access to information is
denied. He has submitted that in the present case,
despite clear grounds for inquiry, no such action has been
taken. He submits that the order dated 27/07/2022 has
attained finality, and non-implementation of the same
amounts to grave injustice.
6.1 In view of the above, learned counsel for the
petitioner urges before the Court that present petition
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may be allowed and information sought for by the
petitioner may be provided to the petitioner.
7. On the other hand Mr. Maulik Nanavati, and Mr.
Shah, learned counsel appearing for the concerned
respondents have opposed the petition.
8. Mr. Nanavati, learned counsel for Respondent No. 4,
places on record a copy of the order dated 08/09/2021
passed in Original Application No. 53 of 2020 (WZ), which
is taken on record. He submits that the petitioner himself
has preferred the said application before the National
Green Tribunal, Western Zone Bench, Pune, and is a
party to the proceedings therein.
8.1 He further submits that instead of seeking copies
under the RTI Act, the petitioner could have obtained the
relevant documents from his advocate, as the petitioner,
being the applicant in the said proceedings, is expected
to have access to all records, including a copy of the
petition. Alternatively, the petitioner could have
requested his advocate to provide all necessary
documents, including copies of the pleadings.
8.2 In view of the above, learned counsel for the
respondent submits that present petition may not be
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allowed and the same may be dismissed.
9. I have perused the document and relevant material.
I have also gone through the record of the petition as well
as the order placed by Mr. Maulik Nanavati, learned
counsel for respondent No.4.
10. It is crystal clear that the petitioner was well aware
that the application being Original Application No. 53 of
2020 (WZ) had already been decided by the Tribunal on
08/09/2021 after hearing all concerned parties. However,
despite having such knowledge, the petitioner filed the
present petition in 2023 without disclosing this material
fact. Hence, the reliefs sought in the present petition
amount to suppression of material facts before this Court.
It appears the petition has been filed through the Legal
Aid Committee by the concerned advocate, other wise,
this is a fit case where appropriate costs ought to have
been imposed upon the petitioner for suppression of
material facts.
11. In view of the above, the petition is hereby dismissed
on the ground of suppression of material facts. Rule is
discharged.
Sd/-
(HEMANT M. PRACHCHHAK,J)
SURESH SOLANKI
